Switching mechanism



Aug. 1, 1933. J. wENK 1,920,538

SWITCHING MEGHANISM Filed June 18. 1930 um. A

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Patented 1, 1933 VUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE swncmNG Macnmsn Y Juan Wenk, Madrid, Spain, assig'nor to Landis du' Gyr, A-G., of Zug, Switzerland, a Corporation .of Switzerland application June 1s, 1930, seal No. 462,010, and` p in Switzerland June 27, 1929 3 Claims.

'10 and combinations pointedout in the appended claims-.x 1

The invention consists in the novel parts-constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

.The` accompanying drawing, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrates one embodiment of the invention, and together with the discription, serves to explain the principles of the invention.

l 2 Of the drawing:

Figure 1 is a `front elevation of the present preferred and illustrative embodiment of the.

invention; and v Figure 2 is a side elevation of the embodiment "25 shown in Figure 1.

circuit with which the switching mechanism is' employed., and thermally responsive means which move'the movable series of contacts, means also being Vpreferably providedfor heating the therresponsive means. As embodied, the movable contacts are adapted 4to be moved away from the stationary contacts by means of lever mechanism which is actuated by a bimetal spring, normally holding the lever in contact closing position but moving the contacts to open circuit position when the'spring is heated,4 a transformer being preferably provided and directly connected with the bimetal spring A,to heat the spring.

It will be understood that the foregoing gen- 'eral description and thev following detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory of the invention but are not restricted thereon.

(cl. zoe-122) `ly move the movable contacts to circuit-closing position and `into i contact with the `stationary contacts 10, all of the contacts being mounted `on an insulating base 13which is supported within the casing and on thev back portion 14 of the casing. For moving the contacts 11 into and out of contact with the stationary contacts 10, a bar 15 of insulating material extends between the two series of contacts and is pivotally mounted by means of the turned down ends 16 of the cross bar 1'7 on which bar l5 is mounted, the ends 16 being pivoted in the small lugs 18 mounted on the insulating base 13. One of the ends of the cross bar 17 is also provided with a forwardly extending portion 19 to which is rigidly fastened an upwardly extending lever 20 which connects the switch operating bar 15 with the switch actuating mechanism, to be described.

As embodied, the switch actuating mechanism preferably comprises a segment 22 rotatably mounted near the top of the casing by means of a short shaft 23 which is rotatably journaled at either end in brackets 24 securely fastened to the casing, the segment being held fast on shaft 23 by means of set screw 25. At either end shaft 23 is formed with shoulders to limit the endwise movement of the shaft. Segment 22 is connected with switch operating lever 20 by means of a pin `26 extending to one side of the segment and engaging and fitting within the 'bent upper end portion 21 of the operating lever 20, so that motion of the segment will be transmitted to the lever. For moving the segment, a pair of bimetal springs 28 are provided, which are preferably of spiral form, and have their inner ends secured to the shaft 23, while their outer ends are fastened to connectors 29 mounted on a small block 30 of insulating material near the upper portion of the casing, vsothat the springs are -connected together in series by the shaft 23 which is of conducting material.

While the bimetal springs 28 may be heated either directly or indirectly, they are preferably heated Vdirectly `by passing an electric current through them, and as shown in the drawing, springs 28 are connected with the secondary of a small transformer 35, also mounted on the back portion of the'casng 14, and having its secondary 

